Modern Vespa

Happy Sunday!

We have a bunch of classic Vespa 2-stroke riders in my province that go by that name...

I have always loved this illustration.

In the 2007 movie with John Travolta called the Wild Hogs, the bad guy
biker gang is called the Del Fuegos. My scooter riding group started jokingly referring to each other as the Del Fuegos.

Bob Copeland
Minnesota

I'm just waiting for someone to say "where is the gear?" I suppose if you're heading to a stand off though that isn't a huge concern as they seem to have the required gear for that.

I've always enjoyed this one panel strip as well.

When I raced our then-liveaboard sailboat from Annapolis to Bermuda in 1990, we laid over there for a week before heading home. My crew and I all rented mopeds and putted around the island from pub to pub all week.

We dubbed ourselves "The Mild Bunch."

Silver Streak,

What a great adventure - sail to the island then explore on scooters.
I could never get use to driving on the left side of the road.

Bob Copeland
Minnesota

... neither am i ... not even drunk.

Driving on the left is ten minutes of terror, twenty minutes of fear, and thirty minutes of discomfort. Then you think about it a bit, but don't worry much until, at least in a car, you turn the wipers on instead of the turn signal, and then you reconsider all your life choices again.

Driving is worse in the US Virgin Islands. It's on the left, but the cars are American, with steering wheels *also* on the left side. It gave me nightmares for months after returning home. Plus, the roads are bad.

This reminds me of a very old joke..

Joe had just landed in Australia for his first holiday out of the US. He decides to rent a car to travel around..

While on the Bruce Hwy he noticed that something wasn't right.. He turns the car stereo on, and he hears the following announcement:

"To every listener, on the Bruce Hwy on the inbound towards Sydney, we have just been notified by other listeners, of a crazy person driving on the wrong side of the road!"

To which Joe, without hesitation, replies: "One??? Yeah, right! Try hundreds!!!"

And since that day, we now have a new sign on the roads..

"The british drive on the left. But if you point it out, they tell you that the rest of the world is going the wrong way!"

From Maurizio Battista, he is a roman comedian, stand-up comedian, actor, television presenter and italian theater director.
Very often his comedy targets women's behaviors in the aspects of everyday life, leading them to excess. In many he sketches of him making fun of bizarre newspaper articles or advertisements, all of which are actually published.

Quite correct Attila, quite correct....!

Graham

One of the best movie quotes of all time....

Micheal Caine in 'The Italian Job' speaking to his gang... "Just remember lads - In this country they drive on the wrong side of the road".

Point of view, the british know how to prioritize many things .... what the heck, everyone on this world mud ball has invented something.

Left is right and Right is wrong...

Australia and New Zealand agree with us too - for a change!
It must come from living our lives upside down.

What confuses me is how you go around the roundabouts.
The Japanese also drive at left...but plus they have the right measuring system ...If we also add the alphabet with vertical / horizontal lines, a unique cultural fruit salad comes out.

https://www.corrieredellosport.it/news/motori/news-motori/2019/08/22-60236703/perche_in_italia_si_guida_a_destra

That is: because in Italy you drive on the right.

The direction of travel is a very recent story. Until 1901 there were no rules, but only from 1923 the streets became the same for everyone. The decree bears the signature of Mussolini (always him ...).

IN 1901 THE FIRST REGULATIONS

When cars began to occupy the streets, drivers used to drive indifferently left, right and in the middle of the carriageway: road traffic was almost non-existent, as was the speed of the cars, plus those who moved by car announced their passage through the use of horns and trumpets. The first case of road regulation arrived on July 28, 1901, with the Royal Decree n. 416: each province had the right to impose speed limits and establish the direction of travel of vehicles: a real local Highway Code. Thus it happened that, on long journeys, motorists frequently found themselves moving from left to right of the carriageway and vice versa, due to the different arrangements between town and city. For example, in Venice and Vicenza the march on the right was in effect, while in nearby Verona the left was preferred. In Ravenna all on the right, but on the road to Porto Corsini an "ancient custom" led drivers to travel on the other side. In Trapani the same prefect declared that "it was customary to keep to the right, but not always".

THE DECREE OF MUSSOLINI IN 1923

When the First World War arrived, the signs that the situation was a bit confusing became evident: after the terrible defeat in Caporetto in October 1917, the Italian troops had to retreat to the Piave river; a terrible traffic jam between the reinforcements climbing north keeping to the right and the retreating forces marching to the left killed thousands of soldiers. It took more than five years to establish a rule that applied to everyone: it was Benito Mussolini, just appointed Prime Minister, who imposed a single direction in 1923, but the way to find a solution was quite long.

FROM WAGONS TO CARS

Peasant Italy, accustomed to moving on wagons and mules, took little account of the official provisions, preferring from time to time the safest roadway to avoid falling into the cliffs or to avoid rash moves by animals. In the province of Perugia there was a high death rate due to uncertainty on the subject and rural roads. In avoiding ditches and mud, the drivers of the wagons often moved to the center of the roadway, often encountering the gait of cars, with often tragic consequences. Milan, Turin, Rome were cities with driving on the left, but in their suburbs, driving on the right lingered. The prefects of these cities opposed the announcement of the obligation to drive on the right, wanting to impose their habit, but a report by the Royal Cremonese Commissioner based in Rome, illustrated the uncomfortable road situation because the trams - and the whole system of tram line - they traveled on the left. The right-wing obligation would have cost the capital six million to adapt to the new law, but a compromise was found. On December 31, 1923, the law was countersigned by the King and sanctioned the right hand as the only direction of travel at the national level, granting a two-year extension to the administrations to modify signs and tramways. The rest is current history.

Actually this is as easy to understand as the game of Cricket!
When you go "in" to bat, you go out onto the field.
When you are caught, bowled, stumped or LBW'ed, you are "out" and you come in again off the field...

Simple, really !

... it seems to be so in fact ...

Our daughter made this on a t-shirt...




I added the circle and "Vesparado" for an avatar here and a sticker for the scoot.

I had the same experience in Jamaica, where the rule is supposedly to drive on the left, but most of the cars are old US models with the wheel on the left side. Actually, my experience was that most Jamaicans drove in the center of the road until they encountered oncoming traffic, at which point they swerved to the left side.

Trying to drive a rental car back to Montego Bay from Negril after dark in the rain was so unnerving that I finally just got behind a local bus and stayed there!

Personally, I have less trouble driving a PTW on the left as the control locations are all the same. The first time I rented a car in the UK back in the '70s, it was a little Renault LeCar with a stick shift on the floor. Had trouble getting used to shifting with my left hand!

She always has the greatest ideas. Looks awesome!

Thanks, Max. I know it was a lot of detail work. Several people asked if she could make more of that shirt design to sell, but she politely declined; she is a teacher and free time is hard to come by. It's one of my favorite t-shirts, but I don't wear it too often so the design doesn't come apart... not sure she'd make me another.